As usual I love my one pot dishes for Sunday cooking - something that is easy to cook and tastes good too. Wanted to try something different today and came up with this recipe. Its my own creation and the combination of spices and vegetables my own too. Needless to say, yummy it was ;) - total comfort food for a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Method

1. Soak 1 cup of chickpeas overnight and pressure cook it in the morning for 3-4 whistles.
2. Wash and soak 1 cup of Basmati rice in water for at least 10 minutes.
3. Make a powder of 1 tsp aniseed, 3-4 cloves, 2 inch of cinammon and keep aside.
4. Heat 2 tsp butter and 2 tsp ghee in a pressure cooker. When hot, add 1 tsp cumin seeds. When the start crackling add the aniseed powder mentioned above. Add grated 1 inch ginger and 3-4 pods of garlic. Add 2 finely sliced green chilies and mix well
5. While sauteing, add 2 finely sliced onions and continue sauteing. Add some salt and saute till pink in color
6. Add 2 finely chopped tomatoes and 1/2 cup of blanched spinach and cook for 2 mins. 
7. Add 1 tsp coriander powder, 1 tsp cumin powder, 1 tsp garam masala powder and mix well.
8. Let it cook for 2 mins, till the raw taste of the masalas is gone.
9. Add rice and chick peas and add 3 cups of water and pressure cook for 2 whistles. After 2 whistles, let the pressure cooker cool before you open it.
10. Sprinkle some  chaat masala while serving.
11. I served this with Cucumber Mint raita, the recipe for which follows.

Cucumber Mint Raita

1. Grate 1 cucumber; place it into a sieve and drain out the excess water
2. Add 1 handful of finely chopped mint. Add 1 finely chopped spring onion(both whites and greens). Add 2 small green chillies finely chopped. 
3. Now add 1 cup curd, salt, 1/2 tsp cumin powder, 1/2 tsp chat powder and 1/2 tsp rock salt. Add normal salt while adjust for salt and mix well.
4. Refrigerate before serving

Try this healthy pulao recipe which is yummy too - dont get mislead by the spinach in the recipe :)


Method
Wash 2 cups of rice and soak it in water for about 20 mins. After 20 mins, drain the water and keep aside
Blanch 2 cups of spinach (palak) in hot water, drain and keep aside. Mix it in a mixer to a fine paste with 5 pods of garlic, 1 inch ginger and 2 green chillies and keep aside
In a pressure cooker, heat 1 tbsp ghee. When it is hot, add 1 tsp cumin seeds and 1/2 tsp shahi jeera seeds. Add  2 finely chopped onions and saute well till it is brown. Add pinch of salt while sauteing the onions. Once the onions are brown, add 2 finely chopped tomatoes and saute.
Add the spinach puree and 1/2 cup of frozen peas, 2 carrots chopped into 1 inch cubes. 
To this mixture add 1 tsp coriander powder, 1 tsp cumin powder, 1 tsp garam masala and saute well. To this add the rice and mix well. Now add 5 cups of water. Adjust the salt and then close the lid on the pressure cooker. After 2 whistles, cook for 5 mins on a slow flame and then switch off the gas. Keep the cooker closed for 10-15 mins before opening the lid to allow the rice to firm up.
Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with raita.

This is a very easy dish to cook and the spinach and corn combination is very tasty. Really good for a light meal.






Method

1. Wash 2 cups of basmati rice and keep aside to remove the starchy content.
2. Heat 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp oil in a pressure cooker, add whole garam masalas like 3 cloves, 1 cardamom, 5-6 black peppercorns, 1 inch cinnamon stick and 2 medium sized onions finely chopped and saute till brown. Now add 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste and saute.
3. Add 1 cup of finely chopped spinach and 1/2 cup of sweet corn kernels chopped into 2. 
4. Add 1 tsp turmeric powder, 1 tbsp garam masala powder, 1 tbsp cumin powder and stir for 1 minute.
5. Add drained rice and saute for 2 mins till the masala coats the rice well.
6. Add 5 cups of water. Mix well. Add salt to taste and cover the pressure cooker and cook for 2 whistles or till rice is just well cooked.
7. Garnish with coriander and serve

I stumbled upon this Middle Eastern recipe long time back and had it written in my dairy. Yesterday while going through my dairy I again saw this one and decided to cook it today. I love masoor dal and hence this recipe was a natural choice.

Today while cooking I again checked the internet for the recipe, read 2-3 versions and finally cooked my version which is a mix of all that I read :)

A very easy recipe to cook ...


Method

1. Wash and Soak 1 cup masoor dal for an 30 mins in 2 cups of water. Take a vessel and cook the dal for 15-20 mins or till the dal is cooked. I added 1 Bay leaf, 1 inch cinnamon stick and one slit green chilli to the water while boiling for added taste.Dont overcook. Drain the masoor dal and keep aside. I saved the water used for boiling Masoor.
2. Now cook 1&1/2 cup of Basmati rice in the same water used for boiling Masoor.You can add additional water if needed.  This way the rice is flavored with the same spices and you don't lose out on the nutrition. Add 1 bay leaf if needed. Cook the rice till its just done, drain and set aside.


3. Add 3 tbsp oil and 1 tbsp butter in a vessel. When hot, add 2 thinly sliced big onions and saute them till they are caramalised. For this you can use medium flame till the onions are translucent and then cook on high flame till the onions are brown and crispy. Add salt and pepper powder to the onions.
4. Now mix the rice, masoor dal and top it with caramalised onion and serve.  I added 1 tsp each of ginger powder and cinammon powder on top for additional flavour. Adjust for the salt.
5. Serve with raita

Another recipe from Rajneet's kitchen. Recipe and photo courtesy Rajneet.

Method 

1. Cook  1 cup rice in the 2 cups water with some salt till its just cooked.  Do not overcook the rice.

2. In a pan, take 2 tsp oil and add 1 chopped onion, 1 tsp ginger and 1 tsp garlic.

3. When it turns light brown, add sliced 1/2 cup carrots, 1/2 cup cabbage, 1/2 cup beans, 1/2 cup capsicum and 1/2 cup peas.

4. Cook on high flame with stirring in between to avoid burning.

5. The vegetables are to be cooked till you are just able to slice it with a spoon. (This will take not more than 5 mins).

6. Add 1 tsp soya sauce, 1tsp  vinegar, 1 tsp red chilly sauce and salt . Since Soya sauce is already high on salt add salt only to taste.

7. Now mix rice with these vegetables and cover it for 2 mins. You can add little oil while mixing .

8. Garnish it with spring onions and serve with your favourite gravy.

Tip : You can use leftover rice from the fridge - this keeps the rice hard and just right for the fried rice

A recipe from my good friend Rajneet's kitchen. Recipe and photo courtesy Rajneet.

Method

1. Wash and Soak 1 cup of basmati rice in 2 cups of water with salt for 20 mins.

2. Heat 2 tsp oil in a pan and add 1 tsp of cumin seeds.

3. When they start to splutter add 1 cinnamon stick, 4-5 cloves and 1 bay leaf.

4. Then add the soaked rice with water and boil it on a high flame till the rice soaks almost all the water. (Rice is generally more than half cooked at this stage).

5. Now cover the pan and cook rice for  5 mins on low flame.

6. Remove the lid after around 10 mins and your jeera rice is ready to be served with any gravy you like.

 I am a big fan of Pongal since my MBA days. Pongal used to be served regularly at IIMA along with Medu Vada. It was a combination that I used to look forward to at breakfast. Recently I searched online for quick pongal recipes and found this one which comes very close to what was served on campus.

Method

1.     Wash 2 cups rice and ½ cup Moong Dal (Basically 4:1 proportion)

2.     Now cook the rice and moong dal in a pressure cooker with 7-8 cups of water and 1 tsp of turmeric for 2-3 whistles. The rice needs to be well cooked till soft.

3.     Remove from flame. Add salt to taste

4.     Give a tempering (chaunk) of whole 1 tsp black pepper, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 2 twigs of curry leaves and 1inch ginger finely chopped in 2 tbsp of ghee.

5.     Add to the rice mixture and serve.
You can also add ghee - fried cashews if you like.

I love one pot dishes as they are easy to cook.
Bisi Bele Bhaat has been a personal favorite dish since years but we never tried it at home. I always thought of it as a complex dish because of the sheer mix of spices and hence used to order it frequently at Udipi restaurants. So on a lazy Sunday, as I was browsing the internet for a one pot dish, I stumbled upon this dish and thought of cooking it. It took me less than one hour to cook this but the flavours in the dish are amazing and so worth the effort.

Here is the recipe I followed.

1. Take 2tbsp of ghee/cooking oil in a pressure cooker
2. Add 1 tbsp of mustard seeds, 1tbsp cumin seeds, 2 dried red chillies, 1 onion diced into cubes, 2 green chilli slit in the centre, 2 twigs of curry leaves and then 1 pinch of asafoetida in that order on medium flame.
3. When onion is slightly brown add 2 teaspoons of ginger garlic paste
4. Add 1 carrot, around ½ cup of cauliflower, ½ cup of beans, ½ cup of peas, ½ cup of okra, 3-4 small sized brinjal all diced into ½ inch cubes. No fine cutting required here as the vegetables melt down in this recipe.
5. Add a pinch of turmeric as you sauté the vegetables on medium flame
6. After 5 mins, add 1 cup of toor daal (which has been pre-soaked in water for half an hour after draining the water) and 3 cups of rice (again soaked in water for half an hour and drained)
7. Add 1 tomato diced into cubes

8. Add water (quantity should be so much that there is one inch of water on top of the rice).I like it a bit runny and hence added a lot of water

9. Cook on medium heat for at least 2 whistles

10. Once you put of the pressure cooker, wait for the pressure to ease and open the lid. Add 1 cup of tamarind water and 5-6 tbsp Bisi Bele Bhaat masala(see below).Adjust the water if needed according to your liking.

11. Cook some more till the masalas are well dissolved

12. Garnish with freshly chopped coriander. Serve with raita and papad.

Method of the Bisi Bele Bhaat masala
Dry roast 6 dried red chillies, 1 tsp fenugreek (methi) seeds, 1 tsp mustard seeds, 2 inch cinnamon, 5-6 cloves, 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, 1 tbsp coriander seeds, 2tbsp chana dal and 2tbsp urad dal on low flame. You can add pieces of coconut around 1tbsp to this. Once you can smell the spices and they are little brown, grind the powders to a coarse paste.

This dish can serve 6 people. One can experiment with the vegetables but brinjal gives this dish a distinctive flavor and hence don’t miss this ingredient

Recipe inspired from Vahrevah.com